'Down on the Farm' tour takes kids back in time

Fourth-graders riding atop two hay wagons yell loudly as they pass through the "time tunnel" under Naperville Road back into the 21st century.

The yelling is to drive any spooks away and, truth be told, there's nary a ghost to be found as the hayracks pull up to Danada Equestrian Center for the last phase of the students' Down on the Farm visit to the Wheaton forest preserve.

"It transforms us. We feel we've gone 150 years back in time," said Kim Castner, a fourth-grade teacher at Scott School in Naperville, who has been bringing students to Danada's model farm for a dozen years.

"It helps the kids make connections of what it was like for people."

Friends of Danada, a volunteer group that operates the 80-acre farm planted with corn and soybeans, took about 350 students on tours last fall at the preserve along Naperville Road between Warrenville and Butterfield roads. Don Nash, president of Friends of Danada, said he only wishes more schools took advantage of the free program.

"Most of them (the students) have never been on a farm before, so even a tractor is intriguing to them," he said. "It's a beautiful property and the farm is so well preserved."

Worked with machinery from the 1950s and '60s, the farm is part of 783-acre Danada Forest Preserve. The preserve also includes the Equestrian Center and the Danada House, which is rented for parties, weddings and gatherings.

The Down on the Farm program operates from Sept. 1 until about the third week of October when the weather starts getting colder. Nash recommends three hours for the tours, but some groups do it in two.

The trips begin when kids climb on the tractor-drawn hayrack to pass through the time tunnel to the west side of Naperville Road. On the way, they stop at the old Danada racetrack and starting gate where Dan and Ada Rice, the original owners of the estate, trained horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby.

A little further along, the students are greeted by Maureen Hobson, an Irish settler portrayed by Aurora actress Sherry Schultz. Arising out of the prairie, Hobson talks about her life as an early 1830s settler and expresses amazement at what the students tell her about their own.

She asks how they traveled to get there (did they have to cross a river?), whether they did their chores before they came (gather the eggs, slop the hogs, fetch water from the creek?), and how they get food (ring the neck of a chicken?).

"I tell them how lucky they are to have school because my kids didn't have school," she said. "In those times, people worked from the time the sun came up to when the sun when down."

The message hit home for Scott School fourth-grader Joel Deutsch.

"They didn't play a lot. They had a lot of work," he said. "They never went to school."

Traveling on further, the students see the fields of corn and soybeans. Nash explains how the plants grow and encourages them to check out product labels to see how many ways corn and soybeans are used.

"When I tell them that soda pop is sugared with corn syrup, they're surprised," he said.

Back at the Equestrian Center, the students learn what horses eat and how they are cared for, see a stall and have an opportunity to pet one of the steeds. For many students, it's a highlight of the trip.

"I learned what an angry horse looks like, what a scared horse looks like and what a relaxed horse looks like," said Scott School fourth-grader Emma Plum, 9.

"What impressed me was how many horses they have and how hard they have to work to take care of them," added classmate Kevin Otto.

Nash said the tours are ideal for third- and fourth-graders because they fit in with the school curriculum. The program also is offered to Scout groups and special needs students.

Typically, the volunteers ask the students to write a letter and tell what they have learned after they return.

"Based on the feedback and the repeat classes that come, they think it's worthwhile," said Bill Borghoff of Naperville, one of about a half-dozen volunteers who help with the program.

Castner said the tours give students concrete experience with topics discussed when they learn about the Midwest in social science class.

"We talk about soybeans in class. They get to see soybeans. They see a tractor and combine," she said.

The tour is kid-friendly, Castner said.

"I would recommend it for any fourth-grade teacher," she said.

To make reservations for a tour, contact the Danada House at (630) 668-5392 or Don Nash at (630) 806-5314.

<p class="breakhead">Danada Fall Festival</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 11</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Danada Forest Preserve on Naperville Road, north of Warrenville Road and south of Butterfield Road</p> <p class="News"><b>Admission:</b> Free</p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> (630) 668-6012</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=324183">Fall festival draws crowd to Danada Forest Preserve <span class="date">[9/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>